Support WGBH

Gaming Official Turns Down Job

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick said on Thursday that he hoped the resignation of Carl Stanley McGee would let the new state Gaming Commission proceed with its work. McGee had been appointed interim executive director before concerns surfaced over a sexual assault accusation.

Patrick defended the appointment, however, saying, "The charges that were made in Florida against Stan were serious, they were investigated, there were no charges. And he and anyone else under those circumstances should be able to resume their life." McGee has worked for the Patrick administration since 2007. He is expected to return to his job as assistant secretary for policy and planning, where he was charged, among other things, with crafting the state’s expanded-gambling law.

The group Mass. Citizens for Children is calling for Patrick to place McGee on administrative leave and conduct further investigations.

In 2007, McGee was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in Florida. Authorities there chose not to prosecute — but later, McGee reached a civil settlement with the boy’s family. In a press conference Tuesday at the Beacon Street offices of Mass. Citizens for Children, attorney Carmine Durso said the details of that settlement should be made public.

“You don’t have to have CSI engaged to determine whether or not these allegations are credible,” said Durso, who sits on MCC’s board of directors. “There’s information out there — there’s information that could be provided.

“I see nothing wrong with asking [McGee] to disclose the amount of money that was paid,” he added. “I see nothing wrong with asking him to have the attorneys who represented him provide the documents that were part of the discovery in the case. Had the case gone to trial, this is information that would have been made public.”

Early test for the Gaming Commission

The furor over McGee’s hiring began after the Boston Globe reported that the Gaming Commission didn’tinvestigate the 2007 allegations before hiring McGee. State Rep. Dan Winslow said that was a serious mistake.

“It’s very important that we get this right,” said Winslow, a Republican from Norfolk. “Because this will set the bar for how the [Gaming] Commission treats future due diligence and future applicants.”

On Monday, Winslow urged the gaming commission to stay McGee’s hiring and delve into the old charges. Commission chairman Stephen Crosby refused, arguing that such a move would violate McGee’s right to the presumption of innocence. But at the Tuesday press conference, Durso claimed that no such right exists.

“An individual who is a defendant in a criminal case is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” he said. “This is not a criminal case.”